"Now You Know"

If you want to float a thing that weighs one kilogram in water, how much water do you need? First, of course, the thing must float in water: a piece of wood, a can of peanuts or glass of instant coffee, any closed container weighing one kilogram (2.2 lb) that is larger than one liter [more…]

Dan O’Keefe originated the idea of Festivus—a secular celebration on 23 December—but the idea didn’t take off until it was featured on the TV show Seinfeld. Festivus is a simple festival, without the religious context and commercial pressures associated with Christmas. The anti-commercialism of Festivus is emphasized by its use of a simple unadorned pole [more…]

Bodhi Day is celebrated on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month which is December 8. Bodhi Day is the Buddhist holiday that marks the day that the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautauma (Shakyamuni) received his awakening (enlightenment). Tradition has it that on the night of his awakening he was given three temptations by the [more…]

Everyone knows what a stave is: a slat of wood in various contexts, a barrel stave, for example. The medieval Norwegian stave churches are so call because of the relatively narrow vertical boards that form their walls. Stave is also an alternate form of staff, again in various contexts, such as the lines on which [more…]

The other day I heard someone saying that Gold is not worth investing in. After all, he said, if the financial system collapses you can’t eat gold, can you? Well, actually you can, unless you have a gold allergy. Many upmarket gourmet shops will sell you edible gold. It comes in several forms: dust, flakes [more…]

First you might notice the wording of the question asking about ‘holiday’ trees rather than Christmas trees but I am not being anti-Christmas about it. The concept of a decorated tree to celebrate the shortest days of winter is a universal phenomenon and not just a “copy of Christmas” as many in the West want [more…]

From the 1960’s to the 1980’s, the divorce rate in the United States doubled and has remained consistently high since then. Every year, there are about two million marriages in the U.S, and about a million divorces, leading to the much-cited statistic that half of all marriages end in divorce. You might be shocked to [more…]

There are a surprising number of placenames in Germany with the prefix “Bad”: Bad Kreuznach, Bad Orb, Bad Ems, Bad Godesberg to name just a few; also since 1991, Bad Wildbad (previously just Wildbad), which would seem to be bad coming and going. More surprising is that the residents of these Bad places are rather [more…]

Well, first of all, the choice of Qatar puts a solid cap on buy cheap cialis online the legacy of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who has taken the Cup around the globe in an effort to broaden the game’s social and political legacy. Qatar is the smallest nation to host a World Cup with only [more…]